After its down-to-the-wire victory over 4-seed Oklahoma, 5-seed Texas A&M men’s tennis faced its bitter rival 1-seed Texas in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference semifinals. The Longhorns topped the Aggies twice during the regular season and made it a trio of Burnt Orange wins with a 4-2 victory at the Mitchell Tennis Center on Saturday, April 18.
A&M got itself in an early deficit surrendering the doubles point to Texas. The No. 40 sophomore duo of Sebastian Eriksson and Oliver Ojakaar got things started on Court 3, making quick work of junior Lathan Skrobarcek and freshman Markus Molder, 6-1.
Locking up the 1-0 lead for the Longhorns on Court 2 was the No. 24 pairing of senior Sebastian Gorzny and freshman Lucas Marionneau. The highly ranked pairing took care of business against their unranked counterparts sophomore Alex Frusina and junior Kholo Montsi, 6-3.
While the match ended unfinished on Court 1, the No. 5 twosome of sophomore Theo Papamalamis and senior Togan Tokac were leading the freshmen tandem of Abel Forger and Kalin Ivanovski, 4-3, before being called off.
The Aggies quickly drew level in singles thanks to No. 100 Frusina, who pulled off a significant upset on Court 3 against No. 46 Eriksson, 6-3, 6-2. But A&M wasn’t done stacking up singles wins yet, as No. 41 Montsi also came in clutch on Court 2. The South African won the deciding match versus Oklahoma quarterfinals and found repeated success against No. 34 freshman Kalin Ivanovski, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.
But the Fightin’ Farmers failed to capitalize on their momentum, as the 2-1 lead was the closest they ever got to defeating the Longhorns. Senior Jonah Braswell easily handled Skrobarcek in their first match followed by a slightly more competitive second set on Court 6, 6-2, 6-3.
With both sides even at two apiece in one, anyone’s match with three singles showdowns still left to play. But Texas was done entertaining A&M’s upset efforts hogging the momentum, and — similar to the Lone Star soldiers at the Battle of Gonzales — telling the Aggies to come and take it.
However, A&M’s fate went the way of Alamo, overwhelmed by Texas’ dominating racket play. Taking back the lead for the Longhorns on Court 5 was No. 93 Forger over Tokac, both competitors traded identical sets, 6-2, 2-6, respectively before Forger took the third set, 6-3.
Eyes then immediately shifted to Court 1, with the 12th Man on the edge of their seat, as A&M needed a win for any chance of going to the SEC championship. No. 10 Papamalamis took the first set versus No. 3 Gorzny, 7-5. But suddenly in the blink of an eye, the Lessy, France native stalled out, surrendering the next two sets, 6-4, 6-3.
The victory from Gorzny punched Texas’ ticket to the championship where it will take on 2-seed Mississippi State at noon on Sunday, April 19. Meanwhile the Aggies now await seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
